


Grey areas

by Not_Crazy_Just_a_Fangirl



Series: The Heart of a Con [3]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 12:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1689068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_Crazy_Just_a_Fangirl/pseuds/Not_Crazy_Just_a_Fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal has always lived on two sides of a great divide.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grey areas

There's a reason he never told Peter. There's a story behind it, and it's not a good one. Yes, his father dies when he was two. Yes, his mother let him hail him a hero, rather then loathe him as a villain. All little kids look up to their fathers. Maybe she did it so he could feel that too, or maybe because she, and later Ellen, didn't want him to end up a criminal. But he guess blood really is too thick to wash it away with lies. So when he overhears Ellen talking to an agent about how they should tell him the truth, he doesn't stay to hear the whole story. He grabs what he can, shoves it into a bookbag and runs, until he reaches New York city. It takes him a week to clear his head enough to realize how messed up it all is, everythings a lie. He's a 16 year old out on the streets without a person he knows within a 200 mile radius. And he doesn't care, because somehow, lies are easier then the truth. He can't bring himself to be the bad guy, because it goes against everything but his blood. He doesn't want to break hearts, only fix his own. But being a good guy doesn't work when no one will look past your (real) name. So he does something different. Not good, not bad. He does what it takes to survive, tries to help people in a way the good guys can't, but refuses to hurt people. His father died dealing with guns and mobs, it doesn't get you a happy ending. But honesty and goodness doesn't get you too far either. And then, he's so far gone his schemes get bigger and bigger, a little bit for the money, a little bit for the adventure. How far he can bend and sneak around the rules until warning bells go off and he's long gone. The only thing better then running away was being chased, was running towards something. Being in a grey area really opens your eyes, because there is no black and white after all, just light and dark shades with a line you don't cross. He's been crossing it his whole life. No one really understands the grey area thing though... The happy ending dream. That a conman can have a moral code. Maybe he's too good at this, or maybe he's the only one that's seen both sides of the line... Or maybe, it's just his artist eyes trying a justify something that can't be explained.


End file.
